Mariel Vincent A. Rapisura

Starting a career in microfinance and social entrepreneurship soon after he graduated, Vince has gained considerable experience having worked on these fields in 22 countries aside from the Philippines. He spearheaded the development and delivery of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Microfinance Diploma Course. The diploma course has attracted participants from Asia, Africa and Latin America. He was recently a presenter at the Global Microcredit Summit in Valladolid, Spain; the Asia Social Entrepreneurship Summit in Bangkok, Thailand; and the Global Village Conference in Jerusalem, Israel.

Vince established SEDPI and SCCI in 2004 and 2008, respectively. SEDPI has grown into a premier capacity builder for microfinance and social enterprises in the Philippines.SCCI caters to small and emerging microfinance institutions and social enterprises. It currently invests close to PhP160 million portfolio to 15 microfinance institutions and seven social enterprises. SCCI is audited by Ernst and Young and has no portfolio at risk.

He has conducted financial literacy trainings to more than 2,000 migrants in 16 countries worldwide. Vince uses financial literacy as a tool to upgrade the financial knowledge and skills of migrants. This resulted to the mobilization of investments used for development in the Philippines.

Vince has a reputation for turning around ailing microfinance institutions and create market niches for those that are struggling with competition. He specializes in designing capacity building interventions and strategies on how struggling MFIs can achieve microfinance financial performance standards. Vince is a good mentor to start up social enterprises. He provides capacity building interventions for social enterprises to attain financial sustainability and at the same time fulfill their social mission. Vince also assisted several organizations access funds both from donors and commercial sources in the local and international markets.

Vince also frequently speaks in international conferences to share his experience as a successful capacity builder and social entrepreneur. He was recently a presenter at the Asia Social Entrepreneurship Summit in Bangkok, Thailand; the Global Microcredit Summit in Valladolid, Spain; and the Global Village Conference in Jerusalem, Israel.

In 2012, Vince also established SEDPI Social Enterprise Ventures, Inc. (SSEVI) that is mandated to support start up and emerging social enterprises. SSEVI currently supports 12 social enterprises in the Philippines that are involved in sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, design and media, health and sustainable tourism. The strong experience of SEDPI in developing capacity building interventions for social entrepreneurship prompted the establishment of its partnership with the British Council to run an annual competition on social entrepreneurship. SEDPI was also asked to transfer its training technology to its partner in Vietnam – Centre for Social Innovation Promotion. Vince has also written several case studies on social entrepreneurship under the Ateneo de Manila University and the National University of Singapore.

Vince is a product of the Ateneo de Manila University and the Asian Institute of Management. He has also been trained in the Netherlands and the United States of America on microenterprise development and rural finance. Vince is a faculty member of the Development Studies Program of the Ateneo de Manila University and teaches social entrepreneurship and microfinance. He was a finalist to the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2012.